Boomerang Guy
by RayWritesThings
Summary: Sokka is a superhero without superpowers. He knows. AU


**Hello, readers. I've decided to start cross-posting some of my fics from AO3 and tumblr over to FFN, so if you recognize this story most likely you've read it on either of my accounts there (Ray_Writes and raywritesthings, respectively). If you haven't read it before, I hope you enjoy!**

**-RayWritesThings**

**Boomerang Guy**

Sokka crouched on a rooftop, munching on the meat kebab he'd packed. What? It was a slow night for crime, and he needed to keep his energy up anyway.

His eyes scanned the streets below, searching for any sign of misdeed or villainy. It was important to be diligent, even while enjoying the deliciousness of a meat kebab. After all, it was his sworn duty to protect these streets. Even on nights like this, where seemingly nothing was happening.

Until a scream rent the air, that was! "My purse! Stop, thief!"

Sokka raced across the rooftops and down a fire-escape, vaulting over the railing when he was in a safe enough proximity to the ground to do so. "Help is here, ma'am!" He declared, chest puffed up in pride. He'd stuck the landing really well!

The woman who'd shouted blinked at him. "Who are you?"

"Well I'm—you know! I'm Boomerang Guy!" He hefted said boomerang high above his head as a helpful reminder.

It didn't seem to help, as she continued to stare at him doubtfully. "And…you're a hero?"

"Of course I'm a hero!" He exclaimed. "What do you think the mask is for?"

"You're not with the _Benders_, are you? It's just, I was sort of hoping—"

"They're busy with the giant beam of light in the sky in Ba Sing Se," he intoned flatly, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction.

Her shoulders slumped. "Oh."

Sokka heaved a sigh. "Look, just tell me which way the thief went."

The woman pointed. "That way."

"Okay!" With that he was off running. He had a lot of ground to make up, after all.

But ahead he could spot the thief pushing past people and clearly trying to put enough distance between himself at the sight of the crime to slip away unnoticed into the crowd. Well, not if his boomerang had anything to say about it!

He hurled it through the air, watching it spin in an arc before whacking the thief in the back and sending him toppling to the ground. Sokka held out his arm, catching his boomerang as it spun back towards him, and arrived just in time to plant his foot in the guy's back before he could think about getting back up again.

"You picked a bad night to steal."

"No way! All the heroes were in Ba Sing Se!"

"Not _all_ the heroes," Sokka groaned. "Just the Benders!" Just because he didn't have powers like the rest of the gang he was always forgotten about by the public. It made him wonder if he really mattered at all.

But something the thief had just said gave him pause. "Wait, what do you mean 'all the heroes were in Ba Sing Se'?"

"The news said so. I figured, hey, open season right?"

Sokka looked up. "Oh no."

A sudden explosion nearly knocked him to the ground as well, a plume of smoke rose in the vicinity of the banking district.

"Open season, huh?" He bent over to bind the petty thief's hands and legs together with rope for the police to find—trying not to think about how Toph would've simply sunk him halfway into the earth to be chipped out or how much faster and cooler that would be—then straightened up. "Not on Boomerang Guy's watch!"

It was a good thing he'd had that meat kebab earlier.

It had turned out to be a long night. The inaccurate news report had had all manner of criminals crawling out of the woodwork thinking they could get away with whatever they wanted. And while he'd thrilled at the adrenaline rush, at the feeling of bringing justice and helping the people of the city…he hadn't been able to help deflating every time the criminals and their would-be victims reacted with surprise and confusion at his appearance. Was he really not that great of a hero compared to the others?

Sokka had dragged himself back home, exhausted and disheartened, wondering what the point to his mission was. If it was hopeless to aspire to be a hero when he wasn't even a bender.

He was so sound asleep he didn't even stir when the others returned to their apartment in the early hours of the morning from their light-beam-battle, at least not until Katara decided to throw the morning newspaper on his face.

"Hey," his sister greeted as he sat up with a grumble. "Thought you might want to see this."

Sokka rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and peered down at the headline.

_Boomerang Guy Saves Countless!_

Well, maybe it wasn't totally hopeless.


End file.
